->''"What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows."''-->-- '''Albus Dumbledore''', ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone''

You just defeated the BigBad? You rescued the passengers from the RunawayTrain? You won the championship fight at the battle arena? Well chances are that everyone will know, too.

When the hero accomplishes a task or a goal (or in the other direction, does something embarrassing or messes up badly), everyone he encounters will have known about it already and will praise/chastise the hero for what he did. Originally a [[VideoGameTropes video game trope]], but seen in other media.

Especially prevalent in [[CloseKnitCommunity military units]], both real and fictional.

SubTrope of FamedInStory.----!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', recent issues of the manga have shown news traveling fast regarding the protagonist's trials and travails, and the consequential shifts in public opinion about him.** It helps when half the village is watching you fight the big bad.** Also things like if Orochimaru used his body switching technique in the secrecy of his lair, which Jiraiya and Akatsuki knew right away.* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', events tend to be reported to the newspapers- and subsequently, those newspapers are distributed -incredibly fast. This is taken to extremes near the end of the Dressrosa arc, where the heroes victory over Doflamingo is made public knowledge in the course of a day.[[/folder]]

[[folder: Fan Works]]* Much to the chagrin of the four in ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World'', who discover that they've become famous less than two days after they return to C'hou. Specifically, the librarian Nangre tells George that she overheard two separate groups discussing the “Awesome Foursome” in the library, which meant that the topic had to be widespread already. The four can't figure out how the news is being transmitted.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]* Occurs egregiously in the ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' movie, when sightings of his dawn outing in a flying machine make the front page of that day's morning newspaper.* In ''Disney/PocahontasIIJourneyToANewWorld'', the news of John Smith's [[spoiler:apparent]] death in the prologue somehow beats John Rolfe's ship across the Atlantic to Virginia, [[FridgeLogic despite the fact that news could only cross the ocean by ship in those days]]. In fairness, this is hardly the only way ''Pocahontas'' gave historical accuracy the finger.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]* In the SubStory ''Film/DestinationTokyo'', we see how this sort of thing gets started: the captain asks for a particular chart. The man who fetches it shows the title to half-a-dozen men before passing it to the captain and they immediately scatter to tell everyone else. Before the captain can officially [[TitleDrop announce their destination]], a new edition of the unit paper is out and Japanese music is playing over the intercom.* In one of the Film/{{Sharpe}} films, the French tried to stir up disloyalty in Irish units on the continent by creating false reports of English atrocities on the Irish. Sharpe stops the plan by lampshading this trope - the reports were spread by smuggling in allegedly American newspapers, which were less than a week old according to the print dates. But during the Napoleonic Wars, crossing the Atlantic was a six week trip under ideal circumstances, meaning that for Americans to hear about the atrocities and send reports about them to soldiers in Spain, said atrocities would have had to be at least three months past, printed in papers nearly two months old.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]* In ''Literature/MostlyHarmless'', bad news is the (technically) only thing that can travel faster than the speed of light. Once they even built a spaceship that was powered by bad news, but it was an extremely unwelcome sight wherever it went and nobody wanted anything to do with it.* Although many fantasy series tend to underestimate how long it would take news to travel across a nation or nations, ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' often makes an effort to avert this. News and messages can take weeks or even months to pass back and forth, perhaps best illustrated with one section where several characters in a remote corner of the realm are trying to plan what to in a tight political situation without upsetting the fearsome leader of the most powerful faction in the kingdom. Said leader died several chapters earlier, and the news hasn't made it that far yet.* This trope is the mechanism for the kicker ending to "Along the Scenic Route", one of the stories in Harlan Ellison's storied collection: "The Deathbird Stories". Having escaped a foolishly initiated encounter with one bad-ass, the protagonist discovers that, to all the other seriously bad-asses, your reputation is '''all you are'''.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':** News of Ned Stark's death spreads across Westeros over the course of the next episode, with characters in the North, the Riverlands, and at the Wall reacting to it.** Justified when Stannis Baratheon publishes the illegitimacy of Cersei's children ''very'' widely and it catches by WordOfMouth. By Season 4, it's spread across the Narrow Sea to Braavos and Meereen.** Since Daenerys has been living with the nomadic Dothraki and wandering the Red Waste, she learns Westeros has plunged into a SuccessionCrisis only after arriving at the port of Qarth. Later, when she's settled in the major port at Meereen, she receives news much faster.** Arya and the Hound spend most of Season 4 out of the loop as they cross the Riverlands, hiding out as fugitives, and learn far later than the other cast, that Joffrey is dead.** Played straight in Season 6, where in the first two episodes, implied to take place mere days after Stannis' defeat at Winterfell, news of his downfall and defeat spreads far and wide, all the way to the Iron Islands.* Lampshaded in ''Series/SesameStreet'': Telly created the Texas Telly persona like 2 scenes ago when he meets Murray, who is ALREADY his biggest fan. "Whoa, news travel ''fast''".* In an episode of ''Series/EverybodyHatesChris'' where a girl kisses Chris on the cheek, he tells his friend to not tell anyone. Later, everyone at school knows. This is also parodied at the end of the episode when Chris tells his friend that him and the girl aren't in love and not to tell anyone, one second later (literally, as said by a caption) '''EVERYONE''' at school knows.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]* In an early ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' strip:-->'''Peter:''' You must be the new girl.-->'''Denise:''' News travels fast.-->[...]-->'''Peter:''' So, do you have a boyfriend?-->'''Denise:''' You must be this Peter Fox I've heard about.-->'''Peter:''' ''(thinking to himself)'' Some news travels '''too''' fast...[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]* [=RPGs=] with a KarmaMeter have their own version: most people will immediately be able to sniff you out as good or evil if you're far enough along on the scale (usually vaguely alluded to as "reputation"), but they'll often still deal with you.** The same goes for factions as well, where if you become "hostile" with a faction, people who've never met you or don't even know what crime you've committed against them will now want you dead. * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'':*** When you defeat [[BigBad Dagoth Ur]], everyone will immediately know and praise you for your deeds. Of course, the fact that you essentially had to announce your intention of doing so to every major power figure on the island and that the eternal dust storm over Red Mountain has vanished, make this universal knowledge pretty plausible. *** Subverted in ''Tribunal'' after you [[spoiler: kill Almalexia]]. Virtually no one will believe you (save the [[MagnificentBastard Machiavellian king]] of Morrowind and Vivec), and trying to tell them about it will be met with confusion from non-Dunmer and a big disposition drop from Tribunal Temple faithful. *** Played entirely straight with crimes. You could commit a crime, then teleport instantly to the opposite side of the island, and every guard there will be aware of your bounty. *** Also, in ''Bloodmoon'', if you are a werewolf and are caught transforming from or into one, the fact that you ARE a werewolf is thereafter known throughout Morrowind and you are then attacked on sight by nearly EVERYONE. There are mods to correct this but this is the default game setting.*** Factions in most Elder Scrolls game have this bizarre hive mind about them, and it's very prevalent in ''Morrowind'', to almost ArtificialAtmosphericActions level. If you make a faction mad at you for some reason, you can then join their faction and now they will be absolutely friendly with you. ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'':*** Closing the Oblivion gate at Kvatch causes almost everybody in Cyrodiil to exclaim "It's you! The Hero of Kvatch!" when you walk by.*** While we're on that subject, you being declared the Hortator by the Three Great Houses and the Nerevarine by the Four Ashlander Tribes is known almost immediately. Admittedly, the widespread Temple eventually adopts this story, and the Great Houses and the Ashlander Tribes ''are'' a big portion of the population of the island, but the news travels at the speed of event flags.*** That's not the worst of it. At the very beginning of ''Oblivion'', the Emperor is killed in a sewer. The only witnesses are either dead, still in the sewer, or the player. Yet everyone in the Imperial City is talking about his death when you emerge from the sewer, and ''the local newspaper has already published an article about it.''*** You kill a guy in Leyawiin (bottom of map). You fast travel to Bruma (top of map). [[StupidStatementDanceMix STOP! YOU! HAVE! VIOLATED! THE LAW!]]** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'':*** When you speak to a guard after doing something that gives them a new line of dialogue, they'll say the new line before anything else. So, for example, you can be made Harbinger of the Companions in a little sea cave, and arrive at the nearest town before the Companions with you (the only ones who witnessed you being made Harbinger) get there, and the first guard will ''still'' greet you as Harbinger of the Companions.*** ''Skyrim'', however, does sometimes mess a few things up. Sometimes, for example, you might be the Harbinger of the Companions, yet a random guard might say "Let me guess - you fetch the mead". [[FridgeBrilliance While it may seem like a subversion of this trope]] in that they might not know just what you've accomplished, it still plays this trope straight in that you can join the companions, but then a guard in Falkreath or Riften will somehow know the second you travel there. * ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' and its sequel had a "reputation" system, which was more or less a KarmaMeter, except that your actual D&D ''alignment'' was a separate affair.** Calling it "reputation" is misleading. If you do Something Evil but there is absolutely no way anyone else can find out, your reputation will still go down and everyone will still find out.** Some mods attempt to correct the discrepancy by separating Reputation into two values: Reputation (what people think of you) and Virtue (how you actually act). It's possible with these mods to be a VillainWithGoodPublicity, or a hero with a ZeroPercentApprovalRating.* Steal an item from any shop and all other shopkeepers will inherently know that the item is stolen and refuse to buy it, even if it's something like a plain shortsword with no notable features. The only ones that will buy such items are "Fences" that specialize in legally-ambiguous goods anyway.* ''VideoGame/{{Fable|I}}'' was particularly bad for it. Immediately after the player completes a quest, people on the other side of the world would know about it and comment the second they see you.** Also averted, as the karma meter causes physical changes, so they would be able to see your alignment instead of having "heard about you."* In ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'', the civilians walking around often talk about your exploits, sometimes mere seconds after you perform them. This includes civilians in [[TimeTravel ancient Rome]].* Subverted in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'': because 99% of what you do is [[TimeTravel in the past]], nobody notices it in the present - to them, it always happened that way, and is thus old news.** Unless of course you renamed your characters [[spoiler: particularly OptionalPartyMember, Magus]]. Immediately afterwards, EVERYBODY knew their new name, regardless of time period. Possible handwave/justification: the renamer is a Nu, part of a race that explicitly has a bizarre relationship with time and space.*** Actually, in the case of [[spoiler: Magus, you can rename him as soon as you get him on the party, without help from the Nu, and then everyone will cease to call him Magus and call him by the new name]].* ''VideoGame/{{Crusader}}'' games. Despite your being a member of a clandestine operation that has to isolate information so as not to give themselves away to their enemies, everyone in the Resistance seems to know where you've been and what you did the moment you step off the teleport pad or tram car back at base. On the other hand, your activities do tend to result in big explosions.* Notably averted in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', where you can lie to just about everyone and the people who can tell you're lying can be counted on one hand. This is important for two reasons. First, you can't choose the Nameless One's [[CharacterAlignment alignment]]: he starts as True Neutral, being an amnesiac, and his alignment shifts over the course of the game based on the player's choices, including lying. Some conversations options where you can talk about the Nameless One's beliefs even allow you to say the exact same thing as either the truth or a lie. In these cases telling the truth or lying will result in the exact same response from the NPC, but which one you choose will affect your alignment. (For example, you've caught someone trying to steal from you, and have grabbed their arm. You are presented with several options, including two saying, "Stop struggling or I'll kill you", but one is marked with "Truth" and one with "Lie". If you tell the truth, it makes you more lawful and evil. If you lie, it makes you more chaotic.) Second, because the game takes place in a plane where belief affects reality, getting enough people to believe in a lie makes it the truth. A notable example is that the Nameless One can tell people his name is Adahn. Telling enough people that lie will result in an NPC named Adahn showing up out of nowhere.** It probably doesn't get any straighter then this: you cannot sell stolen goods at all. Even if the store is on the ''other plane of existence'' from the crime scene you'll still receive an "I don't receive stolen goods" reply. Such level of awareness makes you suspect a case of HiveMind. Or a remarkably efficient law enforcement system with instant and widespread notification about crimes...* Mostly averted throughout the ''VideoGame/{{Geneforge}}'' series: the general population doesn't know what you've done unless it directly affects their own lives. Characters with an organization that can provide them intelligence know more about you if you've done anything significant to their own organization, but even they can't know everything. It's very possible to work for all factions at the same time, at least up to a PointOfNoReturn.** Then again, a lot of actions, including ones that are supposed to be secret, have an effect on your reputation.** Also, a flaw common to all Spiderweb Software [=RPGs=] is that items tagged as “not yours” will cause the entire town to turn on you the instant you steal them, even if nobody sees you take them.*** Not so (perhaps just in the later games): If you're out of line of sight of everyone (and if possible, best to shut the door behind you) you can get away with wanton acts of theft. Of course, this doesn't include items in a box or chest that's been trapped with an alarm.* ''VideoGame/ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlrevis'' uses this as a gameplay element. There's an NPC that deals in rumors; you pay him to get a different rumor assigned to you. They have varying effects, ranging from cheaper item prices, to increasing all stats, to increasing item effectiveness. After doing specific things (fight 200 battles, get past part in storyline, get A's in class, and so forth), you unlock different rumors.* Subverted in ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}} 8''. You can work for both the T'Rang and the Umpani, who are mortal enemies, without either finding out you're double-crossing them because the headquarters of the two races are far away from each other. However one of the races has a spy that has infiltrated the others so you need to be extra careful. Additionally, one NPC who specialises in getting and spreading news can inform the races of what you're up to. You can bribe her, at which point she'll keep the information to herself.* Civilians will run in fear of evil characters and beg for help from good characters in ''VideoGame/{{inFamous}}'' no matter where they were when you were being a good guy. Moving to a newer area of town, such as The Warren, for the first time and being worshipped like a hero is a little strange. Even if news did travel, why would anyone believe stories about a guy who can shoot lightning out of his hands?** Also, Zeke phones you about things that are happening in the town. Said things always seem to happen immediately after you finish a sidequest.* In ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', there's a guy in Dewford Town who wants to know a trendy phrase. If you succeed in creating this amazing new phrase, everyone in the house above him will know, a picture about it will have been painted, a town event for it will be being planned, and there is licensed merchandise for it. All in the two seconds it takes for you to walk into the house.** The remakes take it UpToEleven with whatever you do showing up on the updated Pokenav's newscast app. It's almost ParanoiaFuel to think about it though... ** In the fourth generation ([=HeartGold/SoulSilver=], specifically), a certain character will call you about having cleared the radio tower of Team Rocket almost as soon as you finish.* In the first ''KingdomHearts'', as soon as you win the first tournament at Olympus Coliseum, the Moogle in the Accessory shop will know.* In ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' the scientists and guards all seem to know Gordon. They all know about the player's exploits, what has happened, and that he needs to reach the Lambda Complex to avert the catastrophe, even while there are aliens and government soldiers crawling all over, and that they've spent the entire day cowering in a supply closet or some such place.** This is at least partially justified, though not very well, by one of the scientists saying that they've been using the security system to track him.* Averted in the first ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' game. If you go to Korriban after [[spoiler:learning that you, the player, are Revan,]] and you try to tell this to a guard on the Sith academy, he won't believe you.* In a variation, in ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series completing a sidequest will seemingly immediately create the intended effect even when this shouldn't be in any way possible. For example, in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' you can find a Salarian scientist discussing the possibility of cloning extinct Kakliosaurus as mounts for the toxic environment, and if you bring him a skull of the creature, he will comment on the success of the project the next time you speak with him, even if it's only seconds later.** It's lampshaded at one point in the first game, when you arrive on Noveria. You check in with Parasini at the front desk and take the elevator downstairs. Right next to it is a shopkeeper who instantly knows who you are, and one of the dialogue options is "News travels fast here."* Averted multiple times in the ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' series. After Jak defeats the Metal Head leader at the end of ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'', no one in Spargus City knows who he is when he arrives there. And after he saves the world at the end of ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'', people in Kras City only know him for his racing exploits.* Similar to the ''Mana Khemia'' example above, in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'', you can hire a detective to spread rumors which change the world. As soon as you plunk down 3000 yen on the detective's desk, the rumor is spread city-wide and has come true, whatever it's about. However, news of plot events tends to spread much more gradually, averting this trope as well, and the savvy player can even guess a couple upcoming plot twists based on how the rumors of your own exploits get exaggerated and twisted in the retelling. It's extremely [[ParanoiaFuel paranoia-inducing]] to watch and wonder how it will play out.* {{Lampshaded}} in the first ''VideoGame/HarryPotter'' computer game. After catching the Remembrall and being made Gryffindor Seeker, the next part of the game involves you going to visit Hagrid. One of the first things he greets you with is, "Congratulations on making the Quidditch team! Word travels fast around Hogwarts."* Major events in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' are talked about by [=NPCs=]. For instance, if NCR President Aaron Kimball is assassinated, or if the train from Camp [=McCarran=] to the Strip is destroyed. This even occurs if you kill or disable Mr. House, something ''absolutely nobody'' but you could ''possibly'' know about, since House doesn't really talk to anybody but you and nobody else is allowed in his secret sanctum. It's not even widely known that he's an actual living human, as opposed to a computer program.** Actually, that last one is a justified example, as immediately upon his death Mr House's computer system broadcasts a lengthy and self-aggrandizing pre-prepared eulogy to all computer systems capable of reading it (including the player's pip-boy).** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', Three Dog's news announcements are basically 100% about the player character's actions, which he knows about in minute detail. You can finish a quest and hear him talking about it ''seconds'' later. That last part applies equally to Mr. New Vegas' news in ''New Vegas''.** In VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'s PlayableEpilogue, even if you immediately get in your [[CoolCar Highwayman]] after coming ashore and haul ass to New Reno or Vault City, everyone in town is already singing your praises for defeating the Enclave (though perhaps a bit justified since there's some [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth-wall breaking involved.]])* Averted in the 2014 update for ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress''. The game uses a system of conversations between [=NPCs=] to simulate the realistic spread of rumors, so if, for instance, you kill all the witnesses to your criminal activities before they leave the map, as well as everyone those witnesses spoke to in the meantime, the world will not find out about them.* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' plays this similar to ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' with the strange hive-mind of factions: ** Played with in an interesting way with the Steemwheedle Cartel. If you say, go around making Booty Bay hate you, you will start making the other members of this faction hate you, but the other neutral cities' factions will decrease slower. It does, however, go the other way around as well - becoming liked in Booty Bay does not mean that everyone in Winterspring or Gadgetzan will suddenly like you, but they might recognise you as a friend to Booty Bay. *** The Bloodsail Buccaneers as well - Funny enough, getting liked by them means you get hated by Booty Bay, yet they somehow know that you're getting in friendly with the Bloodsail buccaneers. ** Played entirely straight for Death Knights. Death Knights start out hated by every major sub-faction of their faction, and city guards&civilians will throw food and shout at you when they see you enter. But the second you simply turn in a piece of paper to the person in charge, [[EasilyForgiven everyone instantly forgives you]], even people on the other continent. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]* ''Film/NoobLaQueteLegendaire'': Omega Zell is in the middle of a FictionalVideoGame questline in which he regularly has to report to his QuestGiver. After a task that consisted of fighting another player from a specific calss, the QuestGiver makes a comment about the battle and Omega Zell asks him how he can know how it went if he wasn't actually there. The QuestGiver replies that he's omniscient, then gives Omega Zell his next task.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}''. After Roger uses Doug's borrowed press pass to publish a mean article, ''everyone but Doug'' knows about it, and he is mystified as to why everyone suddenly seems to hate him.* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb,'' Candace's friend texts everybody she knows to tell them Candace became a Goth (which was actually a misunderstanding). She winds up getting ''fifty'' replies in about one second, and one second after ''that,'' Candace gets a call from her other friend about the issue.* In ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'', Clara tells Toot and Foxxy a secret, which they promise not to tell anyone. ''Before they even leave the room'', everyone in the house is banging on the door saying Toot told them about Clara's secret. Toot admits it.-->'''Clara:''' [[LampshadeHanging How is that even possible?]]* From ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':** In "Homer the Vigilante":-->'''Bart:''' The burglar even took my stamp collection.-->'''Lisa:''' ''You'' had a ''stamp collection?!''-->[family laughs; phone rings and Bart answers]-->'''Nelson:''' [over phone] Stamp collection? Haw haw!** In "Homer's Night Out", Bart secretly snaps a photo of Homer and [[BellyDancer Princess Kashmir]], and he only shares this with Milhouse, but soon, the picture is photocopied and spread throughout Springfield, making notoriety out of Homer.* In the infamous ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven", once it's announced that Brian is an atheist, '''CARS''' are thrown through the house.* In the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "White Rice", Francine's show is cancelled after one Asian joke because there was an uproar by the Asian community.* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' has this by virtue of [[GossipyHens resident gossip Pam Poovey]], and best exemplified in the second season with "Stage Two", when Malory is privately sharing news of a breast cancer diagnosis she received. Pam starts texting ''immediately''.-->'''Cheryl/Carol''': Breast cancer!? Oh, you poor thing!\\'''Malory''': Pam! ([["DefensiveWhat What?"]]) What is wrong with you?\\'''Pam''': I can't help it, it's like a disease. \\[''{{Beat}}, starts texting again'']\\'''Malory''': Pam!\\'''Pam''': Do you not know what "disease" means? Oh, sorry, [[TooSoon I forgot you might have]]--[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]* Television, newspaper, the Internet, radio, Website/{{Facebook}}, Website/{{Twitter}}, and where else you can get fast news and information around the world in the modern era.** Theoretically, Twitter updates about an earthquake can spread outward from the epicentre ''faster than the actual shockwaves themselves''. Webcomic/{{xkcd}} [[http://xkcd.com/723/ analyzes this]].** Upon Michael Jackson's death, Twitter crashed. [[/folder]]----